The people of Medway and Kent are expected to come out in their numbers for the Dragon Boat Challenge on Sunday 25th May.

What do Dragons, Food and Drink and the Dunkirk Little Ships have in common? Well they will all be at Basin 2 in Chatham Maritime over the May Spring Bank Holiday!

As part of the three day Chatham Maritime Food and Drink Festival, Medway Sunlight Rotary Club are running a charity Dragon Boat Challenge on Sunday 25th May.

Teams of up to 16 paddlers and a drummer beating the pace will be battling it out in 40ft long Chinese war canoes.

Chief organiser – “Captain ” Bill Parkinson is very pleased with the tremendous amount of interest from teams wanting to take part:

“It has amazed me how people have entered into the spirit of what we hope will become an annual fun and colourful event.”

“We will have 16 teams out on the water battling it out for the prestigious trophy. One team are calling themselves “The Windy Pandas” and one from the Natural Resources Institute in the nearby University of Greenwich have named their team  “Never Been In A Boat Before” and have been practicing in the gym on benches using tennis rackets!”

“We are hoping to raise a significant amount of money from the event towards local, national and international charities.”

 Sponsorship of teams or individual paddlers can be made on Mydonate (https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/therotaryclubofmedwaysunlighttrustfund ).

Tickets for a giant Dragon Prize Draw will also be on sale before the weekend and during the event. First prize is a day out on the Solent in a yacht including a bucks fizz breakfast on board and lunch in a top class Sailing Club on the Isle of Wight with many other marvellous prizes donated by local businesses and organisations.

It is hoped that members of the public will come on down over the Whitsun Bank Holiday, take a look at the famous Dunkirk Little Ships, sample the delights of the Food and Drink Festival and on Sunday cheer on the teams paddling for glory.

It promises to be a marvellous spectacle with teams wearing fancy dress and colourful flags flying high from the boats.

More details can be found on the Club’s website www.medwaysunlightrotary.org.uk.

Further information on the Chatham Maritime Food and Drink Festival can be found on https://www.facebook.com/chathammaritimefestival ).